


Scars Tell Stories

by DFTBAPleaseandThankyou



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akuma Scars, Angry Marinette, Awkward Gabriel, Beach Trip, Concerned Nino, Nosy Alya, beach, confused Adrien
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DFTBAPleaseandThankyou/pseuds/DFTBAPleaseandThankyou
Summary: Adrien is going to the beach on a school field trip, sounds fun right? Wrong. His collection of scars are going to be hard to explain and suddenly its all to real for Marinette.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a bit rushed, but i'm happy with how it turned out. Hope you all enjoy!

Adrien hated the beach.

It wasn't something he brought up often, because it wasn't something his friends brought into their daily conversation.

So when their teacher announced one morning that they would be going to the beach instead of the field trip because the place was booked out, on the one day they were able to go.

Adrien could honestly say, he wished they would just make them go back to their normal classes.

While his classmates told eachother how excited for the new field trip they were, he couldn't help but feel left out.

He understood that it wasn't intended, and that he didn't really have any right to feel this way. So he kept to himself, but he knew what he'd be doing on that day, he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Sitting by himself watching his only friends have fun.

Plastering a smile onto his face, he went through a mindless routine. Get up, go to school, go to fencing, practise piano, sleep and repeat.

But, soon the day had rolled around and dread layered itself onto him like metal, and he was the magnet. It was field trip day. He wore a pair of board shorts, and an old top he didn't mind getting ruined at the beach. Also the largest towel he could find.

Adrien stared at himself in the mirror, cursing the scars that littered his skin, they covered his arms, and peaked out of his sleeves, he tried to pull them down and failed miserably. He settled for covering himself with the towel, placing his bag on his lap covering the scars on his legs aswell.

Sighing he made towards the door, a knock sounded and he jumped.

His father opened the door, a stern face on. Like normal.

"Hello," His father broke the thick bubble of tension sitting between them as they both shuffled about unsure of what to say.

"Hello," Adrien replied unsure of his own voice.

"Good luck on your field trip today," Gabriel swallowed, and Adrien found himself pulling at his sleeve.

"Thank you,"

They stood there, looking at each other. Both feeling awkard.

Nathalie's heels could be heard from the hallway and Adrien silently thanked her for the intrusion.

She nodded at him, and Adrien immediately understood that the car was outside waiting for him.

With a nervous smile to his father Adrien raced out of his bedroom and out of the house.

Cold air hit him like a bucket of water, Adrien sighed in relief. Before remembering why he hadn't wanted to leave in the first place.

The darned beach. Slipping through the car door he looked out the window, surely sitting and doing nothing wouldn't be that bad. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it.

Finally reaching the school, he stepped out. Gulping, he continued up the stairs, through the door and managed to get to class without speaking to anyone.

"Hey Adrien,"

Adrien beamed upon seeing his friend,

"Hey Nino!" He replied, hugging the dj tightly.

"Are you excited?"

No. "Yes! Of course,"

He wasn't sure of why he felt the need to lie.

Marinette and Alya took that moment to walk through the door.

They both wore over sized tops, covering their swimwear underneath.

"Hey Girls!" Nino walked over, pecked Alya on the cheek and hugged Marinette.

Adrien made sure he was smiling.

"I'm so stoked!" Alya beamed at them all

Marinette, as red as she was; seemed to be smiling to.

He strolled over and stood awkwardly next to Nino, who proceeded to hit him on the arm and say

"Stop using your model smile,"

Adrien cracked,

"My what?"

"Ya' know, your model smile? Stop stressing, its gonna be fun!"

The teacher walked in then, she marked the role quickly; "Present!" They all called one after another, eager to get on the bus.

They walked in pairs down to the street outside, it smelt strongly of smoke and petral. Fumes from the bakery across the street also filtered into the thick aroma.

Each student piled onto the bus, despite the cold air the bus was hot and it was going to be a long ride to the beach. Adrien could practically feel himself cringing.

Nino pulled Alya into a seat and smiled sheepishly at him, giving him a thumbs up and mouthing 'Marinette' to him.

Adrien swallowed thickly, suddenly finding himself nervous.

"Marinette?"

She turned quickly and fell backwards slightly bumping her hip on the armrest nearest her, she yelped before looking up at him. Her face an unusual shade of red.

"Y-yes?"

"Want to sit here," He motioned towards a seat and she nodded.

They slid in awkwardly, and then settled in comfortably. Placing their bags by their feet.

(Insert lenny face because i felt uncomfortable writing that)

Chloe glared at them from across the aile and Marinette sneered back. Chloe huffed and looked away, starting a heated conversation with Sabrina.

"So," Adrien began, he pulled at the cloth behind his neck. Marinette noted that he was keeping his towel firmly around himself, it made the bluenette wonder if he was self concious about his body?

Marinette giggled loudly, and nervously and just tried to avoid eye contact.

Adrien snorted and leaned against the window, the Bluenette nearly melted into a puddle.

"I love the beach!" She stammered

Adrien quirked a brow at her but smiled,

"What do you like about it?" He asked, trying to stop from going back to awkard silence.

"Uhm, its hot there or at least it is at the moment, I also like the sand and company i usually go with,"

She stuttered a lot but managed to say something coherent. Alya smiled broadly at them from afar.

"Wha- What is your favourite thing about the beach?" She asked, because she was curious and it was only polite.

"I can't really say," a frown made its way onto his features, and it made Marinette regret asking.

"Whys that?"

"I've only ever been once before with my mother, i was very young and don't remember much,"

"Lets make new memories today! How about that? Then you'll know what you like about the beach," She smiled at him and he smiled back.

That did sound nice, except for the fact that the memories he would make today would probably be ones he would rather forget. He couldn't help but thank Marinette for trying.

The bus stopped abruptly, and students imediatley stood up, the bus filled with millions of different conversations. The teacher stood up and held up a hand, the laughter filed out and suddenly no one was talking. Students were sitting back down as the teacher gave instructions.

They all piled out and made their way down the track to the beach, smiling and continuing with their own conversations. Marinette and Adrien joined Alya and Nino.

When they reached the sand, dread started to pool in Adriens stomach.

They made their way down the beach, the sand felt nice under their feet. The teacher told them to stop, and just enjoy the area near here. They were all fine with that, students ran off in different directions.

Adrien sat under a shady spot and the group soon joined him, Marinette and Alya took their outer layers off to reveal, Alya's two peice Sunset theme swim suit and Marinettes simple one peice, it was red; decorated with Ladybug spots.

two or three small scars were on Marinettes back and Alya narrowed her eyes at them, the Bluenette smiled sheepishly,

"Everyone has a bad time right?"

Alya smiled at her friend and hugged her,

"Tell me if you ever need to talk alright?"

Marinette nodded sharply and Alya smiled, they ran off into the water together hand in hand.

Nino's gaze trailed after them until they reached the water, then the dj looked back to him.

"Adrien come on, take that towel off and join us in the water!"

Adrien shook his head violently, clutching the towel and wrapping it tighter around himself.

Nino gave him a skeptical look before shrugging and running off to join the girls, he kicked up a lot of sand on the way down.

It was humid and sticky, but it was summer and they were at the beach. Sand made its way onto Adriens body, but he ignored it as best as he could.

Chloe wandered over, he was thankful for the distraction and someone to talk to.

"Hey Adrihoney,"

"Hey Chlo,"

She gave him a crooked smile

"Are you just enjoying the beach at the moment?"

He nodded and thanked his lucky stars that she was deciding not to press.

She laughed,

"Somethings bothering you, and if Nino can tell you're in model mode. I can definitely tell,"

Pain flashed in her eyes

"But Its clear you don't want to share, thats fine."

She laid her towel out next to his and sat down, quirking an eyebrow up in question.

"Sure sit,"

She did, lay down and just bathed in the head despite his spot being protected from the sunlight.

About six minutes later Sabrina ran over to them, smiling to herself.

"Chloe!" She giggled and Adrien noticed the subtle smile it produced from Chloe, though he doubted Sabrina noticed.

"Hey Sab, want to go build a castle with me?"

Sabrina nodded, and took Chloe's hand pulling her up.

They ran off together, and Chloe yelled a brief-

"Sorry Adrien, byeeee" over her shoulder.

He looked out at his friends who were splashing each other and laughing, every now and then someone would rub their eyes and complain that it stung, they jumped over waves and complained about seaweed lots.

They noticed that he was staring and stopped their games to beckon him over, he shook his head and gave them a thumbs up.

They walked up together towards him chatting but stopped when they neared him.

"Adriennn," Nino whined

"Come into the water,"

"No, i'm good Nino. Have fun without me,"

Nino frowned and Alya leaned on him closed her eyes and took in the warmth of the sun, before speaking to him and looking him directly in the eyes.

"Come to the water pretty boy, or we'll make you."

They all laughed, like it was some funny joke but Adrien began to panic. His heart crept up his throat and pounded loudly in his ears as Nino tugged on his towel.

"I can't swim!" He screeched

Nino shook him off,

"I know you can, you've talked about being able to swim across the olympic pool with me before,"

Adrien curled up in a ball and held his towel around him.

"Go away," he moaned, a bit childish but Adrien really didn't want to explain the scars on his arms, legs, back and stomach.

"Remember about making nice memories Adrien? Come have fun with us!" Marinette held out a hand for him to grab and he found himself reaching out.

Alya tipped a bucket of seawater on him and Nino yanked his towel while he spluttered.

"Hey that was mean!" Marinette crowed before looking at Adrien

All three of them saw the scars, and gaped.

"Adrien?"

He grimaced, he knew this was a mistake.

Alya knelt down and examined them pulling his sleeve up, noticing how deep some of them were.

"Everyone has a bad time right?" He gave Marinette a pleading look but a temper burned in her eyes.

"You can't say that, its not the same" Marinette protested

He scrunched his nose up and crossed his arms

"Adrien, honey whats wrong? Talk to us, i'm really worried now," Alya crooned,

"Yeah, dude is it your dad?"

He groaned in frustrasion, he was fine. It was just that getting hit by Akumas all the time gave him his collection of scars.

"So it is your dad?" Alya concluded and he shook his head

"Can we just not do this?" He protested

Nino pulled his shirt over his head and Adrien reached for his towel, trying to cover up. They could see and it was frightening.

"This one looks fresh," Alya traced a finger over an angry red line on Adriens back.

He flinched and pulled away,

"Oh we're definetly doing this," Alya announced

Rage began to boil inside of him, he didn't have to tell them anything. Who did they think they were? Demanding what was wrong with him.

"Actually, No, I don't believe i am doing this," He stood and sprinted off in the oposite direction, ignoring the calls from Alya and Nino. Marinette stood open mouthed, completely silent.

When he was far enough away, he transformed and found comfort in the green light that enveloped him.


	2. Parkour?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien makes up an excuse and Chloe helps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh well i tried, i re-wrote this so many times that its just frustrating at this point. I'm still really not happy with how this turned out but oh well. Hope you enjoy!

Adrenaline fueled him,

he bounded over rooftops tears blurring his vision, pain rippled through him and made him shake.

It was all to much, frustration from being accused, being ignored and how his friends had automatically assumed that his father would do something this severe. His mind screamed at him that he was wrong, he didn't have any right to feel this way. His friends were just being normal kind people, trying to help him. But he didn't need any help.

He stumbled and settled for stopping on a flat rooftop, he sunk to his knees and tugged at his hair. Nothing much had really happened so why was it effecting him this much?

He breathed in and out, and willed himself to calm down.

Red Spandex entered his field of vision, great.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug called cupping a hand around her mouth in an effort to project her voice

Her eyes darted around as she swung further towards him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to run to her or away from her.

"I'm here,"

Soft eyes landed on him, she padded over.

"I thought there was an akuma," She smiled at him "Obviously i was wrong."

He nodded glumly

"So what did happen Chaton?"

He opened his mouth and closed it again, and then looked away from her. She would be mad at him for his stupidity, he couldn't tell her.

"Cat got your tounge?" She prodded his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile

"I messed up Ladybug," He shook as a silent sob wracked his body

She hummed and played with a strand of his hair, rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet. But she didn't say anything so he continued.

"They saw," Tears began to build in the corners of his eyes "They saw and now, oh god."

"Hey," She shook him "Breathe, in time with me okay? In and out," When he had stopped freaking out she smiled warmly at him.

"Now tell me, what did they see?"

"The scars, oh god Ladybug," His voice cracked "They saw the scars."

Ladybugs eyes widened

"Scars? Chat what scars?"

"Well I get scars sometimes, it comes with the job," He looked up "Don't you get them to?"

She nodded slowly

"I have three,"

He swallowed thickly,

"I have a few more then that, and now they're all worried and they think that-"

"Hey shh, Chat its fine," She placed a hand on his shoulder "My friends all know about mine, I just told them I went through a rough patch,"

He shook his head

"I tried doing that and they were really mad- oh god they were mad," Images of Marinettes furious expression filtered through his head

Suddenly warmth surrounded him, he latched onto Ladybug just as she was to him.

"It'll be alright Chat,"

He stayed silent but nodded against her neck.

Her earings beeped three times

"Looks like Tikki is tired,"

"Alright,"

She smiled at him

"Take care of yourself Chat,"

and then she was gone, swinging off into the lovey view that was Paris.

He sighed, his shoulders sagging.

He really did not want to go back and face his friends, his stomach turned at the idea of it.

But he couldn't run away from all of his problems, he found his footing and vaulted back towards the beach. Landing in an alley, about ten minutes away from the beach.

He took the time getting there to collect himself, Chloe stood at the general entrance to the beach. Holding up a hand to examine her nails.

Her head snapped up so fast he was surprised she didn't get whiplash, her eyes conveyed horror and shock as she walked over to him with stiff shoulders; not even giving so much as a snarky remark.

When she reached him she latched onto his arm and pulled it up to inspect it, running her fingers over the scars. Adrien froze, he had forgotten to cover up; who would find out next, all of Paris?

"So this is why," She grimaced

Tears pricked at his eyes again and he fought to keep them down

"Adrien I didn't realise it was this bad."

"Its not," Adrien searched every crevice of his mind for an excuse

"Then explain," She huffed "Because this is bad Adrien."

He dug his nails into his palms to keep himself from yelling at Chloe, but she just stood there. Eyebrow quirked.

"I've taken up parkour,"

Chloe gave him a tired, skeptical look and he felt pressured to continue.

"I'm not that great at it, actually i fall over lots."

"Show me something then,"

He felt himself relax, this would be easy and maybe she would believe him. Just mess up a few steps to justify his previous sentence.

Adrien took Chloe's hand and led her to the skate board ramps right near where the concrete turned to steps leading down to the beach. He took a running start and heading straight for the wall, before digging his foot into a slight groove and latching on to the top. He pulled himself up with ease and salted off, bending his knees to catch the grunt of the fall.

Chloe looked dumb founded, her mouth slightly agape as he walked towards her.

"Can we go back now?"

Chloe nodded and kept quiet, she had to much pride to admit that she had been wrong. Adrien smiled, before remembering who would be waiting for him.

His stomach twisted itself into knots as he walked back with Chloe.

His three friends were not far now, Chloe called out to them.

"Adrien!" Alya called as she turned.

They all looked at him with stern faces,

"Adrien," Nino started

"Honey, we need to talk," Alya continued

Marinette nodded silently, her shoulders stiff.

"If somethings wrong-"

"Oh for god sake," Chloe rolled her eyes "He's fine."

Alya motioned towards Adrien,

"Are you blind?" The reporter hissed

Chloe narrowed her eyes at the red head and huffed

"He does parkour, something you should know if you were his friend."

All three of his friends turned to him, confused looks on their faces.

He coughed for lack of anything else to do,

"Uhm, yeah?"

"And you just got all of these scars from what, falling over?" The bluenette inquired

He nodded

Nino sighed

"Sorry Adrien, we shouldn't have accused you before." He offered Adrien a small guilt ridden smile

Adrien shook his head at his friend

"Nino its fine-"

"I mean we just saw the scars and-"

"No seriously-"

"I'm really sorry!"

Chloe rolled her eyes again before walking off to find Sabrina.

Marinette eyed Adrien wearily, he swallowed thickly.

There still seemed to be one person he had yet to convince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha and that was it, really hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review; they make my day :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a Kudos and Review they really make my day!


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